Weakness
by Deandra
Summary: Eomer reveals a weakness through his behavior. Fluffy little ONESHOT. Part 156 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


_**Part 156 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.**_

_**A/N: I've had this notion for awhile, but lately it's been niggling at me to finally write it. I'm still trying to make progress on those unfinished tales, but a busy real life and hideous heat and other "stuff" seem to keep interfering with my creativity. Thanks to Maddy051280 for her input on some of the details. (Hope you're back on your feet after your illness earlier this year.)**_

**Weakness**

**(Jun, 9 IV)**

"Hush, baby girl, hush!" Eomer crooned softly to the infant in his arms, but no amount of rocking or cuddling was easing her fretfulness. "You know Papa cannot bear to see you weep!"

He had come to speak with Lothiriel about something and discovered she was napping, but Theodwyn had begun to wake just as he entered, and he hastened to calm her before her cries woke her mother. Now that he thought about it, Theodwyn had been a bit agitated the past day or so, and he knew it was wearing on his wife. He pressed a kiss to her tiny forehead, desperately trying to think of something that might relieve her distress. He had checked her diaper and found no cause there, and tried burping her but that had not settled her either.

Just then a rustle of fabric behind him alerted Eomer that he had been unsuccessful in allowing his wife to sleep longer. "Here," she said quietly, handing him an amber bracelet she sometimes wore. "Let her chew on that. I suspect she may be getting her first tooth."

Eomer could not restrain a grin at this news, taking the bracelet and nudging it against Theodwyn's lips until she latched onto it. Soon her cries had subsided, and a stream of drool was sliding out the corner of her mouth and over his hand. He continued to rock her gently, and observed, "I do not recall Elfwine suffering so."

"He did not. Some children bring forth teeth much easier than do others," Lothiriel explained.

Eomer examined the bracelet, asking, "What is this, by the way? I have seen you wear it, but I have never thought to ask."

"Amber. It washes up on the beaches in Dol Amroth. It is more plentiful near the mouth of the Anduin, but we still get much along the shore. The jewel-makers are very fond of it, particularly since it fetches a handsome price, but I am told the Healers also have found various uses for it as well. Many of the noblewomen in Gondor have bracelets of amber that they use for their teething infants," Lothiriel told him. "This piece was a wedding gift to me from Elphir and Alcathir."

Looking more closely at it, at least what he could see between Theodwyn's hands and mouth covering it, he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Do I see leaves inside it? Is it not a stone?"

Lothiriel moved beside him as she answered, "We do not think so. Our scholars say they believe it comes from the forests, then falls into the water and is washed down to the shore. Sometimes you will even see insects inside. It is a most amazing thing."

"Well, it is soothing Theodwyn, and that is good enough for me," Eomer responded, with a tender smile aimed at his daughter.

Lothiriel let out a laugh. "My brave warrior is so very soft when it comes to his children! But I will never tell, nor reproach you for it. It is most appealing, my love!" She pressed a kiss to his cheek, and he slid an arm around her waist to pull her close, as he cradled their youngest in the crook of his other arm.

At length he murmured, "It is good to know that these hands, which have caused so much death and destruction of enemies, are not hopelessly given over to killing. It is not a bad thing, I think, that you deem me soft in such matters. Were my heart not touched by something so sweet as this, I would be very worried indeed."

THE END

9/17/07

Theodwyn is about 7 months old here. Children usually get their first tooth somewhere between 4 and 8 months.

_**End note: **__** It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written.**__** The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.**_


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